Workflows help organizations to securely manage and monitor the production of documents. By imposing restrictions on the processes by which important documents are generated, workflows promote greater confidence in the authenticity of each document. This is particularly true of electronic document workflows, where digital signature techniques, for example, can provide an additional mechanism for guaranteeing and validating the authenticity of the document.
A simple document workflow consists of a single human operator and a printer. A document in such a workflow can only be printed by the printer if it is verified as authentic and originates from an authorized individual. More complex print workflows can include more than one human operator with a printer after the last human operator.
For example, a bank may implement a document workflow in relation to the generation of letters of credit. The letter can only be created by a first bank employee (or class of employees) authorized to do so. The letter must then be cross-checked by a second employee authorized to perform this separate task. Only if both these requirements have been fulfilled can the letter of credit be printed and issued to the customer. This problem is addressed if there is an electronic system that enforces this control. However, there are many document workflows where the control needs to be manually enforced and so is subject to fraud.
Unfortunately, although powerful known cryptographic techniques can be used to sign and later verify digital electronic information, such techniques are not suitable once the document in question has been printed. Printing and transmission of hard-copy, paper documents is therefore one of the weakest links in the chain of information security.